When Jack's Gone
by Eleanor Harkness-Jones
Summary: Just an idea I had. Set between Series 1 and 2. All rights go to the BBC. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

_**When Jack's Gone**_

_**A/N: This is just an idea had a while ago and I hope people will enjoy it (and review it!)**_

It had happened so suddenly no-one had any idea what was going on. Basically, one minute Jack was there, then there had been some strange noise outside, and a strong wind that had messed the Hub up, and Jack was gone.

After about an hour searching, checking CCTV and a lot of shouting, they had deduced that something had come through the rift and taken him. He wasn't coming through on their comms, and they couldn't track him. He had just vanished.

None of the team was sure of how to deal with it. They'd never been in Hub without Jack there, or on the comms. It was like, without him, they were nothing. Torchwood no longer meant anything.

They'd all had a meeting to and work out what they should do. They were all looking forward to having some of Ianto's coffee to bring them to their senses. Strangely though, the coffee wasn't as good as it should have been; in fact, it was disgusting. Normally, Ianto always tasted his coffee before he served it, and if it wasn't up to standard, he would make a fresh brew. It was annoyingly clear that he couldn't care less this time. Annoyingly because this brew was beyond disgusting; it was barely drinkable. Apart from the first sip of each mug, it was left on the table, going stone cold.

Even if it was the normal coffee, not much of it would have been drunk anyway; they were all too concerned as to what they should do. Well, all of them except Ianto Owen noticed. Owen kept an eye on the young Welshman throughout the whole meeting. As a result of neither man making much commitment to the meeting, Gwen and Tosh carried the whole thing, so it was decided between the two women that Gwen would take charge of the team while everyone else just did what they had already done.

As everyone cleared out, Owen noticed that Ianto hadn't moved; he was still in the same position he had been after he'd put the awful mugs of coffee on the table at the beginning. He was just staring at the wall. He didn't even look like he was breathing. Owen edged toward him. Ever since the Lisa incident, Owen was never sure what to say to Ianto. He would never admit, but he was a little afraid of him.

He started to pick the full mugs of coffee up. He was watching Ianto as he did so, and nearly dropped one. Ianto snapped out of his trance at the sound, and took the mugs out of Owen's hands and started to pick the rest up.

As he made his way out of the door, he turned back to Owen, and apologised for the awful coffee. Owen just smiled and nodded. He watched Ianto as he empty mugs away. He made a mental note to keep an eye on the young man.

A few weeks later, and still no word from Jack. As a result, the coffee had somehow gone from bad to worse. No-one thought that it could have gotten worse from that day Jack had vanished, but Ianto was seriously letting the standard slip. It was getting so bad; Tosh had started smuggling takeaway coffee into the Hub for everyone. Well, everyone except Ianto, who drank his own terrible coffee.

Everyone knew why Ianto was acting so withdrawn; Jack. They were all missing him, and it was effecting all of their work (Gwen was missing some fairly obvious things in reports, Tosh was leaving information out of reports, and Owen had nearly killed himself the other day by attempting to catch a scalpel after he dropped it, but luckily he had missed it) but none of them was letting it affect the way they acted. Except Ianto.

Gwen and Tosh hadn't really noticed; they were too busy trying to keep everything running smoothly without Jack. Owen was too of course, but he had also managed to not only notice how bad the coffee was, but also how Ianto was acting. He hadn't mentioned it to the girls, as he had expected them to have noticed by now.

Owen was a doctor; therefore it was part of his job to care about the wellbeing of others. But only when people came to him _complaining _of a problem. He never thought he would have to _tell _anyone they had a problem _before _he worked out what it was. He knew he would have to, he just didn't know how.

That night, Owen stood outside Ianto's building. He was quite nervous; the two weren't exactly the best of friends. In fact, less the month earlier, Ianto had shot Owen. At the time, Owen was furious. Looking back at it, he could see that he had been in the wrong, and Ianto had been in the right. Not that he would ever admit it of course.

Taking a deep breath, Owen rang the doorbell for Ianto's flat. There was no reply. Owen wasn't surprised, he was just grateful it wasn't raining. He rang the doorbell again. This time, a pretty young woman in a dressing gown answered the door.  
>"You looking for Ianto?" she asked, with a thick English accent and a surprisingly sweet smile, considering he had obviously got her out of bed.<br>"Um, yeah, is he in?" he replied, embarrassed.  
>"Yeah, but he's been acting weird for a few weeks. Do you know why? I'm really worried about him."<br>"Well, I'm his doctor, and I just came to check on him actually."  
>The girl looked relieved. "Okay, well I should just go up if I were you."<br>"Thanks." He said, as he went up the stairs.

He knocked on Ianto's door.  
>"Go away." Came Ianto's voice. He didn't sound drunk. He did, however, sound like he was crying.<br>"Ianto let me in." There was a pause. "Please, mate. I just wanna talk to you."  
>Ianto answered the door. He looked surprised to see Owen, but let him in nonetheless.<p>

Ianto's flat was immaculately kept. There was a place for everything, and everything was in its place. There was no alcohol out, so at least Ianto hadn't been trying to drink his troubles away. Instead, there were tissues everywhere. To confirm Owen's suspicion, Ianto's eyes were red and puffy.

Ianto knew Owen had worked that out, but he still tried to be polite.  
>"Can I get you a drink?" he sounded like he was close to crying again.<br>"No, thanks." It instantly became very awkward. Ianto gestured to the sofa. Owen sat down. More awkwardness. Ianto sat down next to him. Another dose of awkwardness.

After what felt like a lifetime, but was actually less than 5 minutes, Ianto spoke up.  
>"Why are you here Owen?" Ianto wouldn't look at him as he said it.<br>"I'm worried about you, mate." Now Ianto looked at him in confusion. "I know you're normally very quiet, but since Jack left, you've been _much _quieter. And, no offence, but your coffee's been _terrible_. I don't know if you've noticed, but Toshiko's been smuggling takeaway coffee in."  
>"I noticed."<br>"Then why didn't you say anything? Last time we had takeaway coffee, you lectured us for nearly two hours about how hard you work to make us fresh coffee everyday!"  
>"I just couldn't be bothered."<br>Owen was gob-smacked. Ianto, not caring about coffee! The very thought seemed impossible!  
>Ianto continued, "So other than to confess to me that you lot have been smuggling takeaway coffee into the Hub, why are you here?"<br>"As I said, I'm worried about you. It's not just the coffee, although that it a big issue, you just don't seem to care about _anything _anymore." There was a pause. "It's Jack isn't it?"  
>Owen saw Ianto tense up. Owen swallowed. "Look, we all miss him, and all our work is being affected in some way or another, but we're all acting the same. You're not." Another pause. "Talk to me Ianto! I'm a doctor for Christ's sake!"<br>Ianto took a deep breath. "Yes. Yes, it's Jack. I know I'm overreacting, and I'm sorry, but I just don't know what to do! He just vanished! A-" he wanted to go, on but, quite suddenly, he had a coughing fit, and that was the end of his speech. Owen hit him on the back until he stopped. Ianto, obviously embarrassed, then proceeded to go get some drinks from the kitchen, leaving Owen alone with his thoughts.

Ianto didn't normally have coughing fits, Owen knew that. In Owen's doctor opinion, it sounded a lot like a smoker's cough. When Ianto came back in the room, he asked him straight out, "Ianto, do you smoke?"  
>As Owen had expected, Ianto looked appalled. "No, why?"<br>Owen was faced with a decision; tell Ianto the truth and probably get yelled at, or lie and try to work it out for himself. He went with the one he wouldn't normally go for; the truth.  
>"It's just, well, that coughing fit, you had just then, people who cough like that tend to be smokers. Do you?" Silence. "Ianto, come on, this is for your health. Talk to me mate." More silence. "Either you tell me now and we talk about it, or you don't and I find out myself and cause unnecessary embarrassment for both of us. The choice is yours."<p>

Ianto took another deep breath. "Okay, yes I do smoke. The only other option I could think of was to drink, and I prefer the idea of smoking, although I'm not happy about it." Ianto looked close to tears. "I'm sorry, alright. But… I… it's just." He couldn't find the words. Tears were spilling down his face now.

Owen had no idea what to do. Last time he'd seen someone cry because they were confession an addiction, it had been in the early years of his career at Cardiff General Hospital. It had been a fourteen-year-old girl with a heroin addiction. She had been crying because the people she had called her 'friends' had threatened to kill her if she didn't take it. So, looking at Ianto now, Owen suspected that there was a bigger secret than just the smoking. Owen just prayed that he didn't have another hidden cyber-girlfriend somewhere.

He didn't press the matter any further that night. He'd got Ianto another box of tissues from the cupboard, made his excuses, and left. He would continue his Ianto investigation tomorrow.

_**A/N: I hope this has been enjoyed! I will continue this if people want me to. To let me know you want me to, please review!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**When Jack's Gone**_

_**A/N: First of all, thanks to the people who have put this on story alert, and the people who have put this as a favourite, I really appreciate it. I hope more will do the same! Same to people who have reviewed! Please read and review**_

The next morning, Owen got up an hour earlier than normal. He forgot why when his alarm clock went off, and he nearly killed himself for setting it so early. Then, as he was nearly asleep again, he remembered that he needed to get to the Hub before Ianto so he could keep an eye on him _all day_, and he wasn't sure what time Ianto would get in, but he was pretty confident it would be very early.

He sighed, and heaved his tired self out of the warm comfort of his bed. Why, he wondered, did a bed always seem so much more comfortable in the morning than it did at night? It was one of those great unwritten rules of the universe, like why you could only ever find one sock, or why you the biscuits seemed to be everywhere when you didn't need them, but when you did, they suddenly vanished. These were all just examples of the main unwritten rule of the universe; life wasn't fair.

Owen got dressed twice as fast as he normally did, had breakfast three times as fast, and arrived at the Hub 59 minutes earlier than normal. He was disappointed that he hadn't made the hour, but by then his speedy-breakfast eating had caught up with him and he had indigestion.

He logged onto his computer, and was met by a reminder that he had to do his bi-monthly examination on the team. If it weren't for his indigestion, he would swear that this day was going perfectly. Instead, it was just very good, but Owen could live with that. To make sure Ianto didn't think he had rearranged the date just to check on him, he forwarded the message to everyone.

At that exact moment, Ianto entered the Hub. He had cleaned up well, Owen noticed. You would never know what kind of state he'd been in last night. He did the same with his body language; he nodded at Owen just as he did every morning, except usually Ianto was sitting down behind the receptionist's desk, and Owen was standing in the doorway of the tourist information booth waiting for Ianto to let him into the Hub. This setting was just plain weird.

Ianto then went over to a computer in the Hub. Owen watched him, without really watching him. He saw Ianto go into his emails and read the one from Owen about the examination. He didn't say anything, he didn't look at him as he made his way back to the tourist information booth, but Owen could tell that Ianto was _very _pissed off.

Half an hour later, and Gwen and Tosh arrived, chatting together. They were both taken aback to see Owen sitting at a computer; he was _never _there when they arrived. They greeted him, nonetheless.  
>"Morning, Owen." Gwen nodded.<br>"Morning." he replied.  
>"Good morning." said Tosh.<br>"Morning."

They both went over to their computers and checked their emails. Tosh said nothing about the examinations, but Gwen called out.  
>"Okay, Owen. Get me over and done with." she headed down to the autopsy room.<p>

Owen logged out of the computer and headed down to the autopsy room to find Gwen sitting on the bed ready for him.  
>He got out his little torch and shone it into her eyes, beginning the examination.<p>

Half an hour later, and he was done with her. "Tosh," he called as Gwen made her way back up the stairs, "you wanna get yours done with too?"  
>"Alright then." Tosh answered appearing down the stairs.<p>

Another half an hour later, and Tosh was done too. As she made her way back up the stairs, she called "I'm going to go get some coffee." she gestured to Ianto's latest batch, which looked a little purple. "You two want some?" Gwen nodded.  
>"Yeah, okay." Owen called. "Oh, and as you're going, could you tell Ianto to get his arse in here so I can do his examination." Toshiko was slightly taken aback; she had been expecting Owen to ask her to pick up some magazines or something, but she was glad she wouldn't have to spend any more money on them; the man at the newsagent probably thought she was some kind of warped lesbian by now.<p>

Minutes later, Ianto was making his way down the stairs to the autopsy room. Although he looked calm, Owen could see the fear in his eyes. He was expecting him to be _nervous _like he always was, not _scared_.

It was a little known fact that Ianto had iatrophobia (fear of going to the doctor or of doctors) and nosocomephobia (fear of hospitals); little known because even Ianto didn't know, he thought that he just didn't like them much. As far as Owen knew, he was the only one who knew, even his last doctor probably didn't realise; Owen did because Torchwood's equipment was far more advanced than anything any other 21st century doctor had. Owen had had his suspicions from the minute Ianto had walked into the autopsy room of his first day; he was pale, sweaty and shaking, classic signs of both phobias. When his computers had confirmed it, he had considered telling Jack, but Owen had quickly realised that Ianto didn't know, and Owen didn't want to cause the young Welshman that kind of embarrassment on his first day. So he'd kept quiet.

Every time the bi-monthly examination came around, Ianto was always nervous about it. Owen always managed to keep calm with him. Luckily Ianto was a calm man, and he didn't scream like most cases would; he just went pale, sweated and shook. He also wouldn't look Owen in the eye. He would answer his questions as quickly as he could, and as soon as his examination was over, he would practically run up the stairs and back into the tourist information booth. How no-one else had managed to notice was beyond Owen.

This time however, Ianto looked like he was close to passing out. As he sat down, Owen put his hands on Ianto's shoulders.  
>"It's okay, mate." he said in his best reassuring tone of voice. "This will be just like every other time. I promise." He leaned closer to him. "And no word of last night, alright?"<br>Ianto looked relieved, and nodded.

An hour later, Ianto was bounding up the stairs back to the tourist information boot. Owen had been good as his word; it had been just like every other examination, and he hadn't mentioned the previous night at all. It hadn't stopped Ianto being terrified the whole time. Owen had had to stop every 5 minutes to reassure him he was safe. It was the first time Ianto's phobias had ever become really apparent.

So apparent, in fact, that now that Ianto was gone, Tosh came down to talk to Owen.  
>"I noticed Ianto was pretty nervous today."<br>"Nervous? Sorry, love, that wasn't him nervous: him nervous is him at every _other_ examination he's ever had. That, was just plain terrified."  
>"Oh." Tosh thought about it. Owen knew what was coming. "Don't answer if you don't want to, but why is he always nervous?"<br>Owen sighed and turned to face her. "Believe me, I want to tell you. But I can't." she looked confused. "As a doctor, I can't. I'm sorry." He meant it too. It did want to tell Tosh, but he knew, as a doctor, that he couldn't tell someone unrelated to his patient about their condition if the patient themselves didn't know they had it.  
>Tosh smiled, nodded and went back to her computer.<p>

Two hours later, and, not only had there been an absolutely shocking amount of rift activity, none, but Owen had read, re-read, and then re-read _again _Ianto's examination result and compared them to his previous ones. He had come to a conclusion; there was something seriously wrong with that man. His reaction time had nearly tripled, it had taken him 5 minutes to remember where he lived and his brain waves were unbelievable. There was no mistaking it; someone, or some_thing_, whatever it was, it wasn't human, had done something to poor Ianto's brain.

And Owen was sure it was also what had made him start smoking. Speaking of which, there was no tobacco anywhere in his body. Well, no _Earth_ tobacco at least.

_**A/N: I hope this was enjoyed! I just realised how much I enjoy torturing poor Ianto, which is ironic as he is my favourite character. Huh. Anyway, please review! Reviews are love!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**When Jack's Gone**_

_**A/N: Okay, sorry this has taken so long, but people stopped reviewing, so I kinda forgot about it. This is gonna be the last chapter, so I hope it's enjoyed! And a big thanks to everyone who reviewed/favourite/story alerted this (and in advance to anyone who's gonna review this chapter!)! Also, sorry about Owen's potty mouth in this chapter.**_

Jack had been gone 6 months.

Gwen and Toshiko were starting to notice Ianto's behaviour. They were also noticing his rapidly decreasing health. It wasn't difficult; his coffee had become more liquid than solid two months before, and he had _still _drank it (doing so had given him the worse case of food poisoning Owen had ever seen, and Tosh had had to shut the coffee machine down) and he somehow seemed to be getting paler and paler every day.

One day, after 2 hours had gone by and there had been no rift activity, they decided to initiate Plan II: Interrogate Ianto. Owen still hadn't said anything about what had happened at Ianto's flat.

Ianto was sitting at his desk, his head in his hands, half asleep. They all pulled up some chairs and sat around him. Gwen shook him lightly on the shoulder until he raised his head.  
>"What?" he asked, groggy and annoyed. He looked around himself, and saw everyone. He stood up, but, in unison, they pushed him back into his seat.<br>"Ianto," Gwen began. "what we are doing here we are doing because we care about you. As you know, we had to shut the coffee machine down because, no offence, your coffee was just bloody awful. Your paperwork has just stopped, and all you do is mope around or sit here and cry. Well, we've never actually seen you cry, but it's obvious that's what you do. We can hear you. What's going on, Ianto? Talk to us."

There was a long pause. The silence was driving Owen mad, but they'd all already discussed what to do if this happened; wait Ianto out. Just when Owen was sure he couldn't take anymore, Ianto sighed.  
>"Nothing." He said quietly. "You're all just wasting your time. I'm just…tired that's all. I…haven't been sleeping well. Okay?"<br>"But _why _haven't you been sleeping well Ianto?" Tosh asked gently.  
>"I…don't know. I just haven't been." Ianto pleaded. "Just…leave me alone."<br>_That _was when Owen snapped. "No!" he shouted, getting out of his seat so quickly he knocked it over. "No, Ianto, we won't just fucking leave you alone! Why! Because you seriously need our help! Not to sound arrogant, but you seriously need _my _help!"  
>Just at that moment, the rift activity monitor sounded. Tosh ran over to it, finding that there was a huge rift spike in the city centre. She and Gwen went to deal with it, leaving Owen and Ianto alone together in the Hub.<p>

Two hours later and an absolutely massive struggle later, and Ianto was sitting in on the bed in the autopsy bay with Owen standing next to him ready to run some tests. Ianto was being classic Ianto; shaking but trying to stay in control. It was driving Owen mad.  
>"D'you know why you're like that?" he asked.<br>"Like what?" Even his_ voice _was shaky for Christ sake.  
>"Whenever we do the check-ups your always shaking and nervous. Did you even <em>know <em>that?"  
>"Well, I did. But I've always been like that." There was a pause. "Is there a reason?"<br>"It's 'cos you've got iatrophobia _and _nosocomephobia. Iatrophobia is a fear of going to the doctor or of doctor. Nosocomephobia is a fear of hospitals. They're not a good combination to say the least. You're actually a pretty mild case; most people with either scream or faint whenever they have a check-up, you just go pale and sweat and shake, thank fuck."

He'd said it because he'd hope it would calm Ianto down. But, of course, it had just made the kid panic more.  
>"They're phobias, mate," he said, "they can't kill ya, so don't worry about that."<br>Ianto sighed and nodded, but continued sweating and shaking nonetheless. Owen just sighed and started the tests.

Another two hours, 6 minor struggles, and one hell of an argument later, and Owen had _finally _got a result: there was an alien parasite living in Ianto's brain. How or when it had got there, Owen had no idea, but it was there, and it needed to get out. It wasn't lethal like poor Katie's, but it was making Ianto's life hell. As far as Owen could tell, it lived off strong emotions. It reminded him of that ghost machine they'd gotten a hold of a while back. It was clever as well; it had given Ianto that coughing fit that night at his fit, and Owen had suggested smoking, it had somehow made Ianto say what he said, but Ianto was stronger than it thought, and when he'd fought back, it had made him into a pretty big mess. Owen suspected that was what that tobacco like substance was in Ianto's lungs; the parasite's way of torturing Ianto into keeping quiet.

He had no idea what to say to Ianto. Looking at his screen in the autopsy room, the parasite looked a lot like a cancer tumour.  
>"Perfect!" he said out loud. Ianto turned to look at him.<br>"What is it?" he asked, his voice and eyes full of worry.  
>Owen sighed. He'd already formed a plan in his head. The only problem was getting Ianto to agree to it. He decided to just tell him that.<br>"I know what's wrong with you. I could probably deal with it myself, but I think it would be better if you went to hospital."  
>"No way!" Ianto shouted. "You just said so yourself I've got a phobia of hospitals! How, tell me how, me going into hospital would be better!"<br>"You have to calm down." Owen said, in a calming voice which surprised himself. "The angrier or more upset you get, the worse."  
>"Well going into hospital wouldn't help, would it! I'm not going, Owen! There's nothing you can do or say to change my mind!"<p>

Owen was already prepared for this. In one movement, he'd darted across the autopsy bay, grabbed Ianto by the shoulders and shoved the chloroform into his face. Within seconds, he was unconscious in his arms. Now for phase 2.

Owen had left a note on Gwen's desk so she and Tosh wouldn't worry about him and Ianto. Five minutes later, and Owen and an unconscious Ianto arrived at Cardiff General Hospital. He ran in and spun the receptionist (who he recognised from his days working there, and recognised him as well) and told her he had been at his neighbours for a cuppa, when he'd collapsed. He told her he'd had cancer symptoms. Soon, two doctors (who Owen _also_ knew) were dragging Ianto into the hospital on a gurney. Owen gave them a fake name, and asked them to do a CAT scan immediately.

Four hours later, and Owen was taking Ianto back to his flat. The doctors had told Owen that they'd found an operable tumour in Arthur's (the fake name Owen had given them) brain, and they would take him in theatre immediately, just as Owen had predicted.

Ianto had woken with Owen at his bedside, realised he was in hospital, and begun to panic. Owen had told him his plan (and why the doctors and nurses would call him Arthur Stevens and not Ianto Jones) and that if he could just stay calm in hospital, he could do whatever he wanted to Owen later. Ianto had just grunted.

Owen had convinced the doctors to discharge "Arthur", saying he would look after him at home. It had taken a while (and a tad bit of bribery) but he'd finally succeeded, and was now taking "Arthur" home.

At Ianto's flat, Owen had told Ianto to do his worse to him, but Ianto had simply gone to bed, so Owen showed himself out, slightly dreading the day to come.

As Owen entered the Hub the next day, he was met by an immaculately dressed Ianto holding a cup of coffee. Gingerly, he took a sip, and almost passed out. It was good. No, it was bloody brilliant! Owen had almost forgotten Ianto could make _good_ coffee, let alone coffee so fantastic it could make someone swoon!  
>"Wow." Was all Owen could say. "Just…wow! Cheers mate!" he headed to the autopsy bay, downing half his coffee as he went.<p>

When Ianto went to the tourist office twenty minutes later, Gwen and Tosh pounced on Owen.  
>"What did you do?" they asked him unison.<br>"What do you mean?" he asked with a cheeky smile  
>"Don't even try it, Owen." Gwen laughed, "We know you did something to Ianto last night. We came back, and there was a note saying you'd gone to "fix Ianto", and the next day we've got the kind of coffee we thought we'd never even<em> smell<em> again. What did you do?"  
>Owen shrugged. "I fixed him."<br>"But _how_?" Gwen persisted.  
>"I did, and that's the end of it okay. Now, I dunno about you two, but <em>I <em>have work to do, so…" he gestured for them to leave so they did.

Owen didn't tell them what he'd done, partly because Ianto hadn't. But _mostly _because if he did, he would have to tell them about Ianto's phobias, and somehow that just seemed a bit too personal. Although he wouldn't admit it, he was just looking out for the tea boy. He was just glad it was all over. Now there was just one more question at hand; where the fuck was Jack?

_**A/N: I hope people enjoyed this! It actually took me a while to come up with a solution for this, and I hope it was a good one. As I said, thanks to everyone who reviewed/favourite/story alerted this! It was really appreciated! I hope you review to this too! The button is just there! Come on, make my day! :D**_


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